【Good Leaf】Eclipse of the Crimson Moon

【eight quarters】

The crimson brilliance gently envelops everything under the night, and a young man in a light-colored kimono stands in the open space of the silent courtyard surrounded by the shadows of dark trees in the distance.He had stood there for a long time without any movement, just looking up at the huge crimson moon in the night sky.

A sound of small footsteps came from behind, and the young man seemed to be startled by the presence of the approaching person. He lowered his head slightly and turned his face to the side. His face was hidden under the shoulder-length bangs that fluctuated slightly in the wind.

"As expected, you are here,''." (Note)

"'', haven't you slept yet?"

"How can I sleep without you here?"

The person who spoke was a young man of similar stature. The same plain kimono was casually draped over his shoulders. His waist-length black hair fell behind him, reflecting a soft light like silk with the fluttering amplitude.

The short-haired boy seemed a little shy because of his words, turned around and continued to look at the night sky above his head.The long-haired boy slowly walked behind him and raised his head to stare.

"It's almost getting full (note), the moonlight is so beautiful." The short-haired boy's eyes seemed a little blurred, but no matter who it is, looking directly at such a gorgeous moonlight, it will be distracted, right?

"That's right, I haven't noticed much change. This is a place of eternal night." The long-haired boy's voice seemed a little cold, and he replied disapprovingly.

"''Didn’t you often stare at the moon secretly? Now you pretend you have no interest~” The short-haired boy smiled mischievously, but his harmless innocent eyes seemed to completely pierce the person in front of him. The long-haired boy become stammered.

"No...not at all! Cough..." Seeing the other party wanting to interrupt, he hurriedly changed the topic: "Have you not changed your mind yet? I'm here to make a final confirmation..."

The smile on the short-haired boy's face froze for a moment, but soon spread out again.

"I've made up my mind a long time ago, but ''You..., do you really want to refuse?" The warm amber eyes were filled with a crimson luster of anxiety and worry, and the boy reached out and held the other's fingertips, "You You know, that's our mission."

The long-haired boy was silent for a long while, and suddenly he held the short-haired boy's hands back, and the anxiety and determination that could not be concealed were revealed in his deliberately lowered voice: "No! I also know my mission, and I can do anything, but only that I absolutely can't agree with this matter! They are obviously not sure, but why do they say it so grandly?..."

"''! Don't do that! We don't have a better way, do we?" The short-haired boy's tone became eager, and he drew his arms around the waist of the long-haired boy who was losing control of his emotions, and hugged him tightly .

"'', 'Eclipse' is..."

★★★

Suddenly regaining consciousness from the void of trance, only to find that he was still in a place that was suffocatingly tense.

When I saw the ghost face of the boy in red, I fell into an unprecedented daze for a moment. For about ten seconds or longer, I didn't know what I was thinking or what to do. I just stood there blankly. over there.Just now, what were the scenes that crossed my mind?

However, I was not allowed to think too much, the sudden sound of the drum brought people back to reality, and I looked at the past blankly.

The men in black surrounded by them had already inserted their torches into the surrounding wooden frames, and they were bending over to beat the small drum in front of them, causing echoes of changing pitches in the empty imperial garden.Several priestesses had already flattened their bodies and prostrated themselves at the torii in the center.And Nishimura sat kneeling beside the torii gate facing west, with his head slightly raised, the crimson moonlight in the middle of the sky was shining on his face, and he still had that strange and bewildered expression that made people palpitate.

The boy in red just walked towards the torii gate slowly, and the atmosphere of the audience seemed to be oppressed by an invisible aura, becoming more stagnant.The young man made everyone present show awe and fear, which I can feel even on the periphery.

He stopped in front of the torii gate, standing less than two meters away from Nishimura, suddenly waved his right arm lightly, and I noticed that he was holding a long object in his right hand.The end seems to be made of metal, and with his movements, a bright red arc is reflected. The lower end is a thin handle about two meters long, which is a sacrificial utensil that has never been seen before.

All of a sudden, the surrounding crowd let out a neat low shout, as if they began to chant some kind of scriptures that I couldn't understand.Can the tiny sounds in this dead environment really become so harsh?My head started to hurt, and I couldn't help covering my ears. The waves of sound pierced my eardrums, and a sense of vomiting surged from my oppressed chest.However, Nishimura seemed completely unconscious, and kept his posture still, not looking at the boy in red who was already close to him.But the sharp pain in my chest seemed to be reminding me that the ominous premonition turned into a black snake entangled in my heart, entangled so much that I couldn't breathe.

I subconsciously covered my mouth, I don't know what I will see next, but I always feel that this is by no means an ordinary ceremony... I think of the black mass in the West that I have seen in books, it seems that it will be extremely cruel To perform rituals in a way to achieve some evil purpose...

I...what the hell am I thinking?No... that kind of thing is absolutely impossible to happen here...

I told myself this repeatedly, but my eyes couldn't help but follow the youthful pace of the young man in red, from slow to fast.Seeing the crimson skirt fluttering and dancing like a ghost, the boy walked around the torii gate with complicated ritual dance steps.From time to time, the slender staff in his hand slid across Xi Cun's side at various dangerous angles, drawing strange arcs, but the kneeling young man remained motionless, as if he had turned into a stone.

The back was wet and cold, and my right hand unconsciously clenched the grass roots at my feet. The continuous crouching made my body numb and numb, but I still had to use my left hand to help me hold my breath.

After another round, the long-haired boy raised his stick towards the night sky above the crimson moon, and the people lying on the ground around him suddenly stopped beating drums and chanting, raised their bodies to worship in the middle again, and then lowered their bodies , fully lying on the ground.

The sound stopped, and with the huge crimson moon as the background, the center of the bright red metal reflection was scorching white, and in an instant, a perfect crescent-shaped arc of light was drawn horizontally in the night sky, splitting the field of vision into upper and lower halves.Flying through a space where time seems to be stagnant, several dark red lines, like strands of silk, jumped into the night sky with the same elegant curve, and flew into broken beads and broken jade, falling to the ground, suddenly thinking of a drizzle There was a pattering sound, and finally, there was a dull crash of objects falling to the ground.

As for me, the knuckles covering my mouth and nose had sunk into my skin unconsciously, and I didn't even realize that my nails had carved bluish-white marks with bleeding marks on my face. In fact, it was impossible for me to scream out loud.When encountering stimuli beyond their tolerance, most people will forget even the horror, right?

The strength from my legs that supported my body disappeared, and I fell limply in the grass, unable to move my body. I just stared blankly at what happened in front of me, unable to do anything.

Nishimura still sat there on his knees, calm as if nothing had happened, but the neckline of his plain white thin kimono was stained with bright red, and the shoulder along the side where the flash disappeared was all dark red.

The boy's head was still spinning slightly, sticking to the ground beside him, and scattered another large bunch of dark red flowers, which spread to the feet of the long-haired boy, and stopped.It took a while for his body to fall limply to one side, as peacefully as if he had fallen asleep.

The long-haired boy was still holding the slender stick at a slant, looking down at everything in front of him, and the change of expression could not be seen clearly on the face half covered by the mask.The metal blade at the tip of the spear shone with a strange luster of blue mixed with crimson, and only then did I see its shape clearly.

It's not so much a staff as it is a sword with an extremely long handle.The blood light snaked down along the edge of the sharp blade, bypassed the slender handle, and flowed to the young man's grasp.He also seemed to feel the dark red warm liquid, looked down at his right wrist, then only held the sword in his left hand, and raised his right arm in front of him.Elegantly and slowly, he wiped the red right palm with the tip of his tongue, and then a cold and proud arc appeared at the corner of his mouth.

I couldn't make a sound, but the severe vomiting in my chest made me unable to continue watching quietly. I lowered my body so that my chest and abdomen were pressed against the raised stones on the ground, and tried to move my stiff thinking. what happened!

West Village?

he died?

As much as he hated to admit it, he was physically without a head.

I mechanically shifted my gaze to the long-haired boy again.

He has hardly moved since just now, maintaining an elegant standing posture, and I finally noticed that his lips trembled slightly, as if he was meditating on something.Then suddenly, he turned the sword body, pointing the tip of the blade downward, pointing at the head in front of him, and stabbing down——

The creepy and extremely uncomfortable clicking sound tore through the stagnant atmosphere. It was the sound of metal rubbing against a hard object, accompanied by the sound of bone shattering, and exploded together in the cold air of early winter.

stop!

There was a silent scream in my heart, and strong emotions beyond fear overflowed from my eye sockets, blurring my vision.The fingertips were deeply inserted into the soil under the body, and I could still feel the feeling of being scratched by the sharp stone chips mixed in, but the pain was not conveyed to my heart at all.

To stop... How can I stop this crazy behavior in front of me!

Prevent?For all that has happened, what else needs to be stopped?what can i stop

I hated myself for having no clue, and when I was thinking about what to do, the weird and disordered world continued to tilt in a direction I couldn't predict bit by bit.

The long-haired boy had already put his head on the tip of the sword, lifted it over the middle of the torii gate, and kept that posture still.After a while, I finally understood his purpose.

The white shimenawa tied between the vermilion pillars of the torii gate gradually became dark red, and the crimson liquid was dripping from the section of the neck hanging above. Still motionless as the wind blew by, he just watched the tangled knots soak in blood.

Just as I was staring blankly and wondering when this absurd and cruel thing would end, the boy in red suddenly raised his head, looked around for a moment with a tiny movement, and immediately a witch nearby got up , came to him quickly, took the long-handled sword in his hand, and stepped aside.Immediately, several men in black stepped forward, and when they came to him, they immediately half-kneeled and appeared to be listening.Because the distance was too far, I couldn't know the content of their conversation, but the atmosphere on the field obviously changed from the solemn and secretive just now to a little chaotic.What the hell happened?

I don't need to think about this question anymore, because the next moment, several people in the middle of the venue looked at the direction where I was hiding. I was so shocked that I immediately lowered my body, and my consciousness stagnated again.

Why?In this kind of night, it is reasonable to say that I would not be found at such a distance... I was able to see the situation in the middle of the venue clearly because there were several torches lit there, and it was open and open, and it was very bright by the moonlight, and I The grove he was in was a completely dark corner, and it should look even darker against the firelight.Did I accidentally make a sound?The clenched palms continued to ooze cold sweat, and the rhythm of the heart seemed to rush out of the throat——

How to do?

Think quickly, don't stop thinking!Masumi, what are you going to do?

Whoever they were, there was no doubt that I had witnessed the murder.If found...

Do you want to run away now? ...will be found out?

The body retreated a little subconsciously, and I felt my body trembling non-stop.Ha, I have always been praised by the adults as "old and calm", but that's just the case... When things really happen, I'm still so unbearable.

The cold and clear night dew inadvertently dripped on my hot forehead, but inadvertently made my frantic consciousness stop the car.

I held my breath and lay low, staring at the noisy crowd in the royal garden.

I can't move. In this case, even if I escape, I will be noticed immediately, so I can only continue to hide here, praying not to be discovered by them.

The ceremony seemed to be suspended due to the order of the boy in red.People whispered to each other and kept looking around. Several people picked up the torches on the wooden frame and walked towards me.I lowered my body downwards, trying to make my body completely covered in the hollows of the roots of the tall trees.

Not daring to look up again, only to hear the sound of rustling footsteps gradually approaching.The grass nearby seemed to be illuminated by the fire, and I kept my posture motionless.

The footsteps have come very close, and seem to have stopped about one meter away from me. My nerves have been tense to the point of breaking, and my eyes can only focus on the grass below me.

The pain of suffocation hit me in bursts, and my mind gradually became heavy due to lack of oxygen, but I didn't dare to exhale a breath.The firelight had already shone on the trunk of the giant tree where I was hiding, and it swayed around a few times, and then finally seemed to give up, and the footsteps sounded again.This time, it was gradually moving away from me.

Just when I finally breathed a sigh of relief and thought I was out of danger, I heard a shout from the royal garden:

"You can't see people right next to you. Are you considered a priest of the Zhubu family?"

I was stunned, the voice sounded very young, even though it was separated by a distance, it was still undiminished, and the words were cold and pierced straight to the bottom of my heart.And the footsteps that had gone away seemed to come back in a hurry, approaching my direction.

I jumped up without thinking, and sure enough, the man in black who was beside me was stunned on the spot. I flew over and pushed him, and he fell back immediately because of his unsteady center of gravity. lament.I didn't care about watching his situation, I rushed into the woods behind the imperial garden, and ran wildly.

The light of stone lanterns can be vaguely seen in the darkness ahead. As long as you escape the pursuit of the people behind you and find a hidden place to hide until dawn, you will be able to escape!I stumbled through the bushes and brambles, my chest hurting from my chaotic breathing, but I couldn't stop now!

My footsteps are slightly better among my peers, and the noisy voices behind me are gradually approaching. It is really too much to get rid of a group of followers in this unfamiliar mountain forest, right?

Just as I was thinking about it, I felt a gust of wind blowing past my ears, I instinctively bent over, and when I looked again, a man in black had stopped castration in front of me, and what he was holding was two meters long. Staff.Don't let me think he's come at me again with his weapon brandished.In the process of dodging, more figures have surrounded me.Unarmed, it is almost impossible to defend against their attack. I took off my backpack to resist the attack, but because I couldn't see things, I repeatedly exposed the gap. In an instant, several places on my body were hit hard and fell to the ground .

My ankle was grabbed and lifted, and I was dragged backwards through the woods in a daze.Arms and faces kept bumping against the protruding rocks, and the sound of clothes being torn came into my head, but the strength to fight back had disappeared.

The dragging finally stopped. Like a fish stranded on the beach, I collapsed in the middle of the white stone paved imperial garden. The pain in my whole body made me unable to even turn over.The bright red at the end of the field of vision is approaching silently, and the long-haired boy is stepping barefoot on the gravel ground, as light as a ghost, silently.

I raised my head with all the strength left in my body, and what I saw was still only the ferocious ghost face and the corner of the mouth that was slightly raised but not smiling.The slender body with its back facing Feiyue was outlined with a dazzling edge of bright red, but the red in the center was even more profound, blending with the strong smell of rust that permeated the venue.

The body was suddenly lifted, and then someone stood in front of me, opened my mouth roughly, poured liquid from a small brown bottle into my mouth, and forced me to swallow it.The liquid with a burning sensation like strong alcohol quickly slid into my throat, choking me so much that I couldn't help coughing. The hot stinging pain spread all the way to my stomach, and then spread out in an instant, reaching every cell at the end of my body.

Arms were pulled behind him and he was forced to kneel in front of the torii gate.The pain and burning sensation that was still tormenting me just now suddenly disappeared, and the next moment I realized that this was not the case.What is gone is not perception, but my control over this body.My self seems to have left my body, and I can't even move my eyes. I can only maintain a twisted posture like a puppet, staring blankly ahead.

I seem to understand why Nishimura became like that... Is it my turn now?

The boy in red took the long sword from the priestess and walked towards me.Xi Cun's head was nowhere to be found, and the bloodstains had been wiped away. Now the cold sharp blade with a white and cold light was touching my jaw, and he was looking at me firmly.I couldn't make any expression to respond to him, I just stared at him with wide eyes.

The blade slowly moved to the forehead, and the messy bangs were gently pushed away, revealing the face I had been hiding all this time.However, the corners of the mouth that had been wearing an elegant but menacing smile suddenly twitched, and I noticed that he spoke a sentence in a small, almost inaudible voice, judging from the shape of his lips, it should be:

"Why are you back?"

Note 1: '', here refers to the sentence that the speaker has uttered lines, but Masumi, who is the No.1 observer, did not hear the sentence.It can be understood as the words in '' are sealed facts that Masumi cannot touch.

Note 2: Waxing, one of the phases of the moon, precedes the full moon.It generally refers to the period around the ninth day of the lunar calendar----around the fourteenth day of the lunar calendar.

Note 3: Evernight, forever night."Chang Ye" in ancient Japanese Shinto refers to the "Eternal World", also known as the Hidden World or Nether World, which is eternal like the realm of the gods that never change (like a world where time stops) or the world after death. Existence, no matter how many years time passes, there is no change in the kingdom of eternal night.